Hundreds Chase the Ace in Noel

Unique fundraiser has already put $200,000 in hands of local organizations

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NOEL — Preposterous.

That would have been your first impression.

Hundreds of cars lined both sides of the Hants County road running by Branch 166 of the Royal Canadian Legion on Friday night.

More cars than exist in the community of Noel, home to few more than a hundred souls.

As you walk past the murmuring lineup that stretches from the road and into the 30-year-old hall with tarps spread over its leaky roof, your second impression of wonder and confusion develops.

“I’m going to yell, and it’s going to hurt somebody’s ears,” volunteer server Rachel Lake hollers as she emerges from the legion’s kitchen carrying a burger and fries.

Susan Rhyno, squeezed between friends and clutching a handful of tickets, winces as Lake makes good on her warning.

“It’s history,” said Rhyno, who drove up from Maitland.

“There’s never been this many people in Noel, and there never will be again.”

So what is going on in Noel?

What is essentially a glorified 50-50 draw has exploded beyond anyone’s expectations and has been drawing nearly a thousand people, many driving hundreds of kilometres every Friday night to the legion.

It is Eric White’s fault, really.

The Hants North Baseball Association member helped get the event started.

He heard about the idea from friend Jeff White.

While working in Inuvik, Northwest Territories, Jeff’s stepdaughters attended a fundraiser called Chase the Ace. How it works is people come and buy 50-50 tickets throughout an evening, which ends with a draw. The winner gets 20 per cent of the pot automatically and gets to cut a deck of cards. If they get the ace of spades, they get the other 30 per cent, while the remaining 50 per cent goes to the house.

But if they don’t draw the ace of spades, the drawn card is thrown out and that 30 per cent rolls into next week’s jackpot.

It sounded like a good idea to Eric, who wanted to raise money to install floodlights at the association’s ball fields.

So in January the first draw was held. A few people came out and the ace wasn’t drawn. Week after week, the pot kept getting bigger, the crowds kept getting larger and the deck of cards kept getting smaller.

On Friday, the jackpot was just over $160,000, with only 16 cards left to be drawn and the ace in there somewhere.

There are lottery tickets for sale at every corner store and bingo halls in nearly every town. So why would droves pour into this quiet farming community along the Minas Basin from hundreds of kilometres away for a gambling event that isn’t accompanied by any organized entertainment or sporting function?

“It’s the money,” said everyone this reporter asked.

But lottery tickets offer greater riches, the reporter responds.

“For one, your odds are better here,” said Mike Doucette, who had given up his last six Friday nights to drive the hour from his Halifax home to take part.

“And the amount is just right. Look at the people here — they’re all thinking $160,000 would set things right. It’s the type of money that pays down the mortgage, clears your debts and sets things right.”

And a look across the crowd that now filled the legion parking lot showed no demographic trends — kids played along the tree line, clusters of young girls and guys leaned over the pans of pickups, and the middle-aged and elderly did much the same.

“Where else would you find $160,000 in Noel?” said Lona White, repeating the question as if it were absurd.

“Nowhere.”

The chairwoman of the legion’s ways and means committee had little time to chat. Her little kitchen and posse of volunteers expected to serve 275 meals before the night was through. The legion and baseball association have been splitting their half of the draw that has, so far, raised over $200,000.

So the tarps will get replaced with a proper roof and the air conditioning is getting fixed at Branch 166. The ball fields, meanwhile, will get their spotlights and pretty well whatever else they need.

On Friday, the ace wasn’t drawn, so the event will continue this Friday with only 15 cards left in the deck and around $170,000 up for grabs. Spillover locations have been set up at a local bar and the fire department to handle the growing crowds.